Windfall!

Windfall!

His skin had become finer, and his frame a little sturdier.

More than two hours later, the warmth in his stomach faded. Liang Qu, having digested most of it, carefully compared his reflection in the water and found that he had become more handsome.

He was still a little too dark, but his formerly rough skin had become much smoother, making him look valiant and heroic. Clenching his fist, he could clearly feel that he was stronger. When he swung it, the wind whistled with tiger-like force.

If Liang Qu had previously been raised on coarse grains and bran with swallowed vegetables, then after eating the Treasure Fish, he had become someone raised on meat, eggs, and milk. Both were healthy growth, but their worth and spirit were worlds apart.

It felt incredible. The sensation of being filled with strength from head to toe was simply too good.

He could jump higher, run faster, breathe more slowly; it was as though his entire body had become lighter.

"No wonder a single Treasure Fish can win the favor of Martial Masters. It's practically a divine treasure that strengthens one's foundation, nurtures vitality, nourishes the spirit, and tempers the body. If I had a hundred of them, I'm afraid I wouldn't even need to enter any Martial Arts School—I could break through those damned four gates of skin, flesh, bone, and blood all by myself."

Liang Qu stood, put on his clothes, and, after confirming that the overly nourished flush on his face had faded, rowed back to the wharf without much effort. He could hardly wait to sell the Treasure Fish in his hands and exchange it for the qualifications to rise in status.

Yet before he even reached shore to pay the docking fee, he spotted a huge crowd gathered by the bank in the distance, buzzing with excitement.

What day was it? Hadn't the moon festival passed last month? Was there some other holiday I Don't Know about?

Liang Qu set down his oar, picked up his pole, and Approached the wharf. Someone naturally came over to collect the fee.

He took two copper coins from his pocket and handed them over. Carrying his fish basket, he looked through the crowd and immediately spotted the rather tall Li LiBo.

Sure enough, wherever there was excitement, there was him. He was an old-school fun-seeker through and through.

Yanking him out of the crowd, Liang Qu asked, "What happened?"

"Hey, who is it?" Li LiBo was displeased at being dragged away from the spectacle, but the tremendous force around his wrist left him unable to resist. Bar­ing his teeth, he was pulled free of the crowd. When he turned around and saw Liang Qu, he froze. "Why's it you, brat? What medicine did you take? Your grip's crazy strong!"

Liang Qu remained unmoved. "You still haven't told me. What's with all these people?"

"Heh, you came at just the right time. Someone at our wharf caught a Treasure Fish too! It looked like a black fish, but its whole body was red. It weighed two jin, three liang, and six qian. Someone caught one before—what was it called, a Red Perch? It's worth one tael of silver per jin."

Li LiBo was brimming with pride, as though he himself had caught the Treasure Fish, utterly failing to notice the change in Liang Qu's expression.

Treasure Fish were neither especially common nor especially rare. Every month, there would always be one or two lucky fellows at a wharf. Still, Liang Qu had not expected such a coincidence—just as he was about to sell his Treasure Fish, he ran into this.

Fortunately, it did not matter. Treasure Fish were already in greater demand than supply. Running into another one would not affect anything. Perhaps if a Martial Master bought two at once and was pleased, he might even pay a little extra silver.

Seeing how many people were around, Liang Qu cleared his throat and shouted, "Our Shang Rao Wharf has truly been blessed by the River God! Two Treasure Fish caught in a single day!"

Li LiBo, standing closest to him, had his ears hurt by the shout. "What nonsense are you talking about? Chen Jiechang only caught one Treasure Fish!?"

Just then, everyone's gazes turned toward him. Liang Qu lifted the fish basket, grabbed the Bullhorn Pomfret by its gills, and held it high overhead.

"The second one I meant isn't his. It's mine!"

The crowd erupted in an uproar. The large encircling ring that had been centered around one spot instantly became two barrels.

"Isn't that just a pomfret?"

"It's not a pomfret. Look carefully—the fish has horns on its head!"

"It really does! Horns on its head—it's a Treasure Fish, no doubt about it!"

After the people around them confirmed it, the already lively wharf became even more deafening. More and more people crowded over, wanting to catch a glimpse of the Treasure Fish's exalted appearance.

The Treasure Fish people had heard of before were merely unusual in coloration and Patterns. Yet today, there was actually a bizarre one with horns growing from its head!

"Who caught it?"

"It was A Shui, Old Liang's son! He's incredible at Fishing—catches over thirty fish every day."

"Old Liang? The one who passed away last month? That kid's luck is insanely good."

"The Liang family's fate hasn't run out yet!"

"Damn, a single Treasure Fish is worth several months of rice and grain for me! If I could catch one, I'd die without regrets."

"If you caught one, the one making money would be the madam in the dark alley, Hahaha!"

The crowd was extraordinarily animated. After all, it was extremely rare for a single wharf to catch two Treasure Fish on the same day. Everyone wanted to rub themselves with a little of that good fortune.

Looking over the crowd, Liang Qu saw the envy and naked desire in every pair of eyes. He had Never Before imagined that the descriptions in novels could be real—that one could truly see them.

"A Shui, I have a daughter who hasn't married yet. How about I give her to you?"

"Uncle Chen Yi, isn't your daughter only nine?" Liang Qu went numb when he saw that the speaker was Chen Yi, whom he had met once before.

"His family won't do. They're not worthy of a handsome young fellow like you. Come to my house, let me show you my daughter."

"Give it a rest, Shi Lao'er. Yours is already eighteen."

"Don't you know that a woman three years older lets you hold a Gold Brick?"

Chen Qingjiang alone could support an entire household. An orphan like Liang Qu—handsome and highly skilled at Fishing—was a prize among prizes. Anyone with a daughter at home wanted to take a bite.

Thinking of the carriage that had avoided him when he first arrived, Liang Qu finally understood what it meant for thirty years east of the river to become thirty years west of the river—all in less than a month.

Still, Liang Qu held no resentment. When poor, one could only cultivate oneself alone; such was the helplessness of those at the bottom.

Amid the crowd's jostling, the two barrels squeezed back into one.

Liang Qu saw Chen Jiechang, the other person who had caught a Treasure Fish. He was around twenty, tall and slender, with equally dark skin. No fisherman was fair-skinned. He was also a renowned Fishing expert at Shang Rao Wharf, even somewhat better than Uncle Chen, earning more than a hundred copper coins a day.

When Chen Jiechang saw Liang Qu, he naturally felt unhappy that his moment in the spotlight was being divided between two people, though not overly so. He still maintained a smile on his face.

Such was the pleasure of country folk: if I lived better than you, I felt good; if not, I felt miserable.

In his previous life, Liang Qu had a second uncle. After Liang Qu got into a prestigious university upon graduating high school, that uncle wore a sour face all day simply because Liang Qu had scored better than his grandson. Whenever they met, he claimed that one's major mattered more than one's university. After graduation, though, he changed his tune and said that connections mattered once one entered society.

The two looked over each other's Treasure Fish.

Chen Jiechang's fish resembled a black fish, except its color was entirely different. It was crimson from head to tail, as though cast from fresh blood—a fine color indeed.

"The Martial Master is here! The Martial Master has arrived!"

"Move aside, move aside!"

"The Martial Master has come to see the Treasure Fish!"

The crowd scattered. Liang Qu and Chen Jiechang looked up and found that three men had arrived. All were noticeably taller and more robust than the common folk around them, their backs ramrod straight.

Were these Martial Masters? They should only be Martial Artists, right?

Only those who had Broken Through the four gates could be called Martial Masters; those who had not were merely Martial Artists. There were only a handful of Martial Masters in all of Ping Yang Town. Ordinary People knew little, so naturally they lumped the two together. Perhaps they knew the difference, but they called them that anyway.

The leader of the three introduced himself. His surname was Hu. He happened to be traveling from Ping Yang Town to Yi Xing City on business, and having heard that there were Treasure Fish at the wharf, he had come to take a look. If they truly were such fish, he would pay to buy them.

Chen Jiechang hurriedly called out, "Martial Master, please look at mine."

Hu Martial Master walked up to Chen Jiechang, gave it a glance, and said, "Red Blood Perch. How much does it weigh?"

Chen Jiechang answered nervously, "Two jin, seven liang, and six qian!"

"Will you sell it for three taels of silver?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Chen Jiechang beamed with joy. Three taels of silver were enough for over a year's worth of rice and grain. Last month, a Tiger Head Grouper weighing three jin, six liang at the neighboring wharf had sold for only three taels and five qian. By comparison, his Red Blood Perch was worth even more! Hu Martial Master took the fish and paid without weighing it at all, clearly believing that Chen Jiechang would not dare deceive him.

Then he came over to Liang Qu. When he saw the pomfret's pair of horns, surprise appeared on his face. "Bullhorn Pomfret? That's rather rare. How much does it weigh?"

Watching Hu Martial Master's expression, Liang Qu lowered his head slightly and answered, "Three jin, two liang, and one qian."

While everyone had been gathered around watching the spectacle, he had already asked someone to weigh it for him. There could be no mistake.

"Six taels and five qian. Will you sell?"

"Six taels?"

Chen Jiechang, standing nearby, stopped in his tracks. The fishermen around them fell utterly silent.